The Devil's Hourglass
by Blackwingcrow
Summary: If you were given the chance to go back in time to any point in your life, would you? Could you? Knowing that you could put peoples lives at risk doing so or that you could change the very course of history...
1. Prologue

The Devil's Hourglass

Prologue

Time is a strange thing. It flows without cause, and is neither living, nor dying. There is no fixed point when it started; it's just always been there and it will never vanish. Because time is an eternal thing; it is part of this universe and is etched into the very earth.

There are those who have been blessed with the power to manipulate time; to slow it down or stop it for a few seconds. But they do not have the power to control time, not truly.

Legend speaks of an hourglass; the very essence of time its self, which can send someone back to any past point in their lives. But this is a chance that will be given to one person in the entire existence of time, and it will be given to the one who has truly lost everything.

If you were given this chance, would you go back? Could you go back? Would you travel to the past to save someone from dying, maybe? Or would you go back for your own greed? Such as redoing the lottery so you could win the jackpot prize.

But could you go back? Could you go back, knowing that if you did something wrong in the past it could jeopardize the lives of many people in the future? Could you go back, knowing that if you were going to save someone from dying that they could possibly die later on in their life, and that you may have sacrificed the lives of many just for your own gain?

It is a difficult choice to make, but there are good sides too, such as saving a life. Maybe by saving that life, you have saved the lives of others too. Maybe by saving that life, you have prevented a world crisis. Or, if you went back to redo the something like the lottery, you may have given some of that money to charity.

But, since the chance to go back will only be given to the one who has lost everything, only they will get the chance…

* * *

><p>I know it's very short but should I continue? This will be set after DMC 2 by the way.<p> 


	2. A chance to change the past

The Devil's Hourglass

Chapter 1: A chance to change the past

It had been a month since the incident at Vie de Marli and Dante had travelled into the deepest pit of Hell, but to the red clad demon hunter it seemed like it had been a whole life time.

It was the middle of the night and his shop was surprisingly silent; not a single sound could be heard, unless you counted the old, worn floor boards that creaked every time something moved. Moonlight shone through the windows and danced across the floor, highlighting the splinters and the gaps in the floor boards. The light spread into every corner of the room, reflecting off of the drum kit and the juke box, giving each an eerie look.

The light crept across the room. The Devil arms that were impaled into the walls were made to look even more deadly than they already did, by the glowing light that outlined each detail perfectly. The demon heads that were being held up by the Devil arms, were also highlighted by the moonlight, and they gave the shop a more gothic look. The shop had a damp, musky smell, which was odd since it usually smelt of pizza.

Dante was sitting at the desk in the shop, with his feet up, flipping his double-sided coin. Over the years since the incident at Mallet Island, the red clad Devil Hunter had become more serious and reserved. Sure, he had been cocky towards the Kid, Nero in the events of the Fortuna incident, but after that, he found that the Kid reminded him of Vergil so much. The way that Nero used Yamato was not as fast or as precise as Vergil had used it, but some of the combos Nero used were identical to Vergil's. The Kid also bore a striking resemblance to the red clad's twin; the back of his hair was choppy, like Vergil's had been when he had slicked it back. Along with this, the teen likes to wear dark blue, which may not be the exact colour the Dark Slayer wore, but it still shocked Dante a bit. Additionally, the young hunter had the same cold look in his eyes that the blue clad had worn when finishing off an opponent.

_Dante watched the teen closely as Nero ran towards a Hell Vanguard with Yamato raised. The O-Katana clutched in his demonic hand was glowing a soft blue-violet colour, which highlighted its elegance and beauty. His feet splashed in the puddles that had formed from the heavy rain that was pouring down onto the ground. After having such an intense fight with the demon, the young hunter was ready to finish it off. Nero got close enough to the demon to strike it, so he impaled its stomach with Yamato, at which point the sword's glow intensified, as if it had a thirst for blood. The look in the teen's eyes was so cold and so unnerving, he could have made Medusa herself cower in fear._

_The Hell Vanguard shrieked in pain using a horrifying inhuman tone. Nero removed Yamato from its stomach. He flicked out to the side and then slowly sheathed it, making a small click of metal sound when the entire sword was resting in its scabbard. Dante's eye's widened when he saw this. Not only had Nero perfectly copied one of Vergil's trademarks, he also looked like the red clads deceased twin; standing there in the rain with a cold glare which was directed at his opponent. To Dante, this was like seeing Vergil battling all over again. The Hell Vanguard disintegrated into dust and slowly, its remains were washed away by the rain._

_Nero glanced over at Dante, while panting heavily. At first he smirked at the older man, as if he were proving something, such as being able to take down a Hell Vanguard after first dealing with several other lesser demons first. But his smirk was soon wiped off of his face when he saw the red clad's shocked expression and replaced with a look of concern. _

_"Dante, what's the matter?" _

The fact Nero reminded Dante of his twin so much, had actually pushed the red clad into acting like his deceased twin so much, that his personality had completely changed and his once cocky attitude barely remained. In serious situations he took on a more calm, cool and serious approach as opposed to being a wisecrack and showing off his cocky aura.

Then there was Trish, who bore a striking resemblance to Dante's mother. When the red clad had first started to act like Vergil, he started to distance himself from Trish more, due to the fact that her appearance stirred up memories from when he and his older twin were children; when they didn't have to worry about anything. They didn't need to worry about their heritage; they didn't need to worry about losing each other and, they didn't need to worry about demons coming to attack them. The blonde demoness had obviously understood his reasons for being distant, but had tried to reason with the fact that she wasn't Eva; sure she had her looks and some of her caring personality, but she was her own person. But it seemed that the red clad would not listen to her attempts to reason with him; he seemed too caught up in mourning the loss of his twin once again, so the blonde left him alone in the shop and went around as a free-lance hunter again…

_The blonde demoness walked up to the brooding Dante. She carefully sat on the corner of the desk like she always does, and looked into his distant eyes; they were full of many mixed emotions such as sorrow, remorse and even loneliness. Trish had noticed the red clad's changes in personality quite quickly; the way he was more distant and cut off from everyone. It had all started shortly after the Dante came back from a job he'd had with Nero; the hunter had told the demoness that the 'Kid' as he called him, had used Yamato in a similar style to Vergil. Trish immediately understood why he was a little upset, but she couldn't comprehend why he continued to act in this way. Then she had found out that the memory of Vergil had led the red clad to think of their childhood, when Eva was still alive._

_Trish gently cupped her hands around the hunters cheeks, "Dante" she spoke, softy. The half-devil snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at her; his eyes widened slightly at first, but then he realized that he wasn't looking at Eva. "I'm not Eva and Nero isn't Vergil, you have to stop thinking about us in that way," she reasoned._

_Dante sighed, "I know it's just… hard." He looked into her eyes; they were full of concern, but at the same time appeared caring and understanding, just like Eva's had been when he was younger. The hunter reached up to her face and placed his hand on her cheek, "You really are just like her."_

_Trish took hold of Dante's hand, "But I'm not her," the demoness said. She sighed, slipped off of the table and walked to the front door, "Dante, you need sometime alone to think, but please, remember; Nero and I we're... we're not Vergil and Eva." And with that she silently slipped out of the door, leaving a surprised and upset Dante to his thoughts… _

Shortly after Trish had left, everyone else had started to stop visiting the red clad as well; in fact they all left him alone. Dante flipped his double-sided coin again, but closed his eyes when he caught it; there had been a reason behind him getting it, one that had confused everyone when he first got it. The reason was that he had absolutely no luck whatsoever; every time he showed up for a job, at least one thing would get broken, leaving him with a bill instead of a pay check or something else like an army of demons would come, which wasn't too bad except that people may get hurt _and _things would be broken. So instead of relying on this bad luck of his, the red clad decided to make his own luck and a double-sided coin would turn every single decision in his favour.

_The red clad flipped his new double-sided coin in the air while sitting at his desk with his feet up, reading a magazine. Trish came up behind him and caught the coin in mid-air, just as Lady, Nero and Kyrie were coming through the door. The blonde demoness examined the coin closely, looking at both sides. She gave Dante a questioning look, "Why do you have a double sided coin? Are you hoping to win a few bets with it?"_

_A small smile touched the corners of the hunter's mouth, "Maybe." Trish raised an eyebrow, "Okay fine, I have no luck in life so, I figured I'd just make my own luck," he explained. Everyone looked at him in a questioning way._

_"Make your own luck?" Lady asked, as she walked up to the desk along with Nero._

_"That's right Lady; I'll make my own luck." said Dante._

The red clad decided that he had been awake for too long, so he put his coin down on the desk, lay back in his chair and closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>A demon sat on a throne in a large marble hall, glaring down at the two wooden doors at the far end of the room. The hall was immaculately clean and the stone was pure white in colour, although this was difficult to notice, due to the lack of light. Eight great pillars stood tall and proud at the sides of the room, their shadows were being partly erased by the darkened hall. The ceiling was raised high above everything and depicted the night sky; it even had all of the star constellations and the movement of the planets mapped out, and they would change along with the real life ones. The throne that the demon sat on was made of black marble that was polished to perfection and was very basic in its design.<p>

The demon appeared to be in a human-like form, although he could be distinguished from a human if you looked closely. He had long jet black hair which came down to just above his tail bone and skin so pale that it was almost white. The demon had a pair of dark red eyes, with slit pupils. He was clad in black armour; his gauntlets had razor sharp spike that stretched up to the middle of the demons upper arm. The gauntlets gave him long, pointed fingers with extremely sharp nails. The chest plate looked extremely durable and it had a black skull in the middle that had ruby jewels filling the eye sockets. The black spaulders on the demons shoulders had five straight spikes that pointed diagonally downwards.

The demon closed his eyes and slowly tilted his head back to face the ceiling. He slowly opened his eyes and studied it closely; the stars sparkled gently under his gaze. He looked closely at the alignment of Neptune and the moon; soon they would be in aligned with each other. _It will happen in a few minutes, _the demon thought. _I can't help but wonder; who will be chosen? _

Suddenly, the doors at the far end of the hall burst open, revealing a lesser demon that had a humanoid form, but was clearly identifiable as a demon. He had dark red scale-like armour with hints of black in the scales and pitch black eyes. The demon knelt before his master, "My lord Aeon, it has begun."

The demon named Aeon smirked and looked down at the lesser demon, "Finally."

* * *

><p>Dante's eyes snapped open. He looked around and found that he was no longer in his shop, but in some kind of space area. No matter where he looked, all the hunter could see was dark red. The red space moved in a wavy-like fashion, but did so slowly and in an almost calming way. Instinctively, the devil hunter reached for Ebony &amp; Ivory, but he found that they weren't in his holsters. He also noticed that Rebellion was nowhere to be seen. The half-demon growled and looked around to see if he could figure out what had happened.<p>

"Do not be afraid, son of Sparda," a voice echoed. The red clad hunter whipped his head in various directions to try and see where the voice originated from, studying the red space, but he couldn't see anyone. "I will not harm you." The voice sounded like it belonged to a young woman, although the red clad could not be too sure.

"Who are you?" the red clad asked, trying to remain calm, which was very difficult with the fact that he had no idea where he was, how he got there, who this person was and to top it all off, he had no weapons.

"That, son of Sparda, does not matter at the moment," the voice replied.

"Why?" The red clad inquired. Dante didn't really like the sound of not knowing who he was talking to, especially if he couldn't see them.

"Because, it is not relevant at the present time."

Dante stayed quiet for a few seconds, pondering over the situation he was in. He decided upon the next question he was going to ask, "Where am I?"

The voice chuckled slightly, "Do not fret, son of Sparda, you are still in your office. This is merely your sub-conscious. You are, in a sense, inside a part of your own mind. However, this is not a dream; I am actually speaking to you."

"How do I know it's not a dream?" the hunter asked.

"Have you had a dream like this before?"

The red clad thought for a second; it was true that he'd never had a dream like this before and it did seem too real to be one. Maybe this person was telling the truth. "No, I haven't"

"Then you have your answer," said the voice.

"I have another question; what do you want with me? I doubt contacting people in their sleep is something you do for a living." Dante asked. His cocky attitude seemed to have returned briefly to allow him that remark.

The voice was silent for a moment or two, but then spoke, "What I want is to offer you a chance that shall not be granted to another. What I want, is to offer you the chance to journey to the Crystal Cave, where you shall be given the chance to travel back to a point in time in your past and shall be given an opportunity to change it."

Dante's eyes widened, "What?" he gasped. "That's impossible."

The voice chuckled again, "Wrong, son of Sparda, It is possible. Tell me, have you heard the legend of Chrona's Hourglass? Or, as it is more commonly referred to as, The Devil's Hourglass?"

The hunter searched his mind, trying to remember if he had heard such a tale. Once he was sure that he had no recollection of even hearing about the legend, he replied, "No, never."

"Then I shall tell you the tale." said the voice. "Long ago, at the beginning of time, a young demoness named Chrona was given the task of being the guardian of time, since a demon not much older than a human child would be easy to set on the right path of protecting something so valuable. So she would have to watch over time itself and protect its power with her life if necessary."

"She must have been really young, and to have all of that responsibility... it must have been hard on her at first," said Dante.

"It was merely what was best at the time," the voice explained. "Anyway, because time is an eternal thing, Chrona was blessed with the gift of immortality, so she could govern over time for all eternity. It was shortly after this that Chrona decided to make an hourglass to keep the powers of time in check, so she did and the object held the very essence of time within it. After the hourglass was forged, Chrona hid herself away somewhere in the human world, to escape the greed of demons but in a place that no human could find. Around one million years after this had happened, a demon named Aeon heard the tale and ever since he has wanted the power of Chrona's Hourglass."

There was silence for a few minutes. Dante reflected on what he had just heard; could it be true? Was there really a way to travel back in time?

"Son of Sparda, you and you alone have been given this chance that no other shall receive. You are a man who has truly lost everything that meant the world to him; you have had things cruelly snatched away from you all of your life, and so I must ask you this; will you go back to a point in your life and change history?"

Dante thought for a second; with this chance, he could have his family back and be more normal for once. He could see his mother and brother smile again. He and his twin could grow up and have a much more normal life, instead of being mortal enemies and fighting each other to the death. He could have a _real _family. "Yes, yes I will take this chance, of course I will!" the red clad exclaimed, having been slightly overjoyed at the fact that he could change the past.

"Then son of Sparda, you must journey to the Crystal cave. Within you shall find Chrona and her hourglass." the voice explained.

"How will I find this cave?" the red clad asked.

The voice was silent for a second or two, "I will not give you the exact details, only that it is located near the highest point in the human world."

The hunter looked down and noticed that his body was beginning to turn transparent and his vision of the wavy, dark red space began to blur; _I must be waking up, _he thought. "Wait, I have one last question; who are you, really and how do you know all of this?"

There was no reply.

Dante's vision became black.

* * *

><p>The red clad half-demon slowly opened his eyes; his mind was a little foggy and unclear at first, and he couldn't think straight. But he soon remembered the dream that he had just had and the conversation that had taken place in it. Dante sat up suddenly and began to think about what the person had told him;<p>

_"Son of Sparda, you and you alone have been given this chance that no other shall receive. You are a man who has truly lost everything that meant the world to him; you have had things cruelly snatched away from you all of your life, and so I must ask you this; will you go back to a point in your life and change history?"_

_"Yes, yes I will take this chance, of course I will!"_

"I can change history…" the red clad muttered, "By finding Chrona's Hourglass?" _That's right, _he thought, _I can get my family back!_ The hunter stood up and began pacing his office, thinking about where he could possibly find the hourglass. All was silent for a few minutes, save the old, worn floor boards, which creaked under the red clads boots. Dante searched his mind, trying to recall the conversation he'd had in his dream. After a minute or so, he remembered something;

_"…__son of Sparda, you must journey to the Crystal cave. Within you shall find Chrona and her hourglass."_

_"How will I find this cave?"_

_"I will not give you the exact details, only that it is located near the highest point in the human world."_

"Near the highest point in the world?" the red clad ran his right hand though his white hair; he never was too good at geography, even though his job often required him to go to foreign countries. "What _is _the highest point in the world and more importantly, _where _is it?" Dante muttered to himself. No matter how much he searched his memory, he could not find the answer. The hunter sighed in defeat and sat back down at his desk; there was no way he could change his past using the hourglass if he couldn't find it in the first place. But then he had an idea; sure, Dante didn't know where the highest point in the world was, but he knew someone who probably did; Lady.

The half-demon was about to stand up and rush out of his office to find her, when the thought occurred to him that he hadn't seen her, or any of his friends in fact, in a while and he knew that Trish was most likely saying with Lady and they along with Nero were probably hunting demons without him. But then he considered the fact that they were his friends, they would most likely be willing to help him, even more if they thought that Dante would go back to being his old self.

The red clad finally decided; he would go and pay his friends a visit and ask them for help.

Dante got up from his desk, holstered his twin pistols Ebony & Ivory and sheathed his legendary broadsword Rebellion on his back. He then headed towards the door, but stopped when his gaze was captured by the photo of his mother, Eva that stood in the right corner of the desk. A look of determination appeared on the hunters face as he looked at the other photo next to the one of his mother; it was one of himself, Vergil, Eva and Sparda. He barely remembered the photo being taken since he was only four at the time, but he did recall that it was taken a few months before his father left to seal a gate to the demonic realm. That was a mission that he had never returned from.

Dante looked away from the photo and instead stared at the door. "I promise I'll see all of you soon." He walked away from the photo and headed towards the entrance to the shop. He swung both doors open and stood there. The red clad was greeted by a crimson sunrise that truly set the scene for his departure from Devil May Cry. His coat flapped in the calm breeze and Dante, the younger son of Sparda, stepped out of the door and began his quest for The Devil's Hourglass.

* * *

><p><em>"So... it has begun. The event that time itself, has waited for; the search... for The Devil's Hourglass. This... should be interesting..."<em>

* * *

><p>Damn, hardest chapter of my life. Hope you enjoyed it! Oh yeah, this is a new style of writing for me so it's a trial story so please tell me what you think! Thanks for reading. By the way, I have no idea how many chapters there will be, so bare with me here! Please review if you wish and tell me what you think!<p> 


	3. Friends or family?

The Devil's Hourglass

Chapter 2: Friends or family?

Dante sombrely walked down the dusty street from his office; the sun bathed him in its crimson light, making his coat a lighter shade of red and giving his white hair a soft red glow. His footsteps echoed throughout the neighbourhood, but awoke no one from their sleep. He walked slowly, with his gloved hands buried in his pockets and staring at the ground. _Will I be able to do this? Can I? _The hunter looked up and stared at the crimson sunrise; the warmth of the sun landed softly on his cheeks and he stared at the sun, wondering how on earth he was going to approach his friends after not seeing any of them for six months. He thought of how he had been acting since the incident when Nero finished of that demon;

_"Dante, what's the matter?" The teen asked, concerned about the older half-devil. He saw the shocked expression on Dante's face; the red clad's eyes were still wide and he just stared at Nero nervously, as if he were seeing the ghost of a family member. He had visibly paled; even more than Nero thought was possible for him, when you considered the fact that the older hunter had quite a pale complexion. The younger half-demon walked up to Dante slowly; if the older hunter was as freaked out as his expression portrayed, it would be best to approach him in a manner that gave no indication that the teen was a threat to him. "Dante, are you okay?"_

_The red clad no longer stared at the teen, but rather at the spot where the Hell Vanguard had been. For one brief moment, he thought he saw Vergil standing there in the pouring rain, glaring at him though the white bangs of his hair that had fallen down from its usual style due to the downpour. The red clad's heart rate slowed yet his heart pounded fiercely in his chest. The hunter swore he could still smell the sickly, coppery scent of his own blood in the air. He could hear it dropping to the stone ground, staining the top of Temen-Ni-Gru. He could still hear himself panting heavily, feel the coldness of the rain make his whole body feel numb and he could still see that cold, heart stopping, murderous look in Vergil's eyes; those piercing blue eyes that showed no emotions except hate, anger and remorse. Those eyes, along with the Dark Slayer's heart of ice were the most unnerving things known to the younger twin. The red clad was about to back away slightly when he remembered that it wasn't possible for Vergil to be there; since he had been the one who had killed him. His twin wasn't there, because his blood, the blood of one son of Sparda was on the other son's hands. The older hunter's eyes widened further, but this time in fear. He found that he couldn't look away from the spot, no matter how hard he tried, and this scared him. _

_Nero had no idea about what was going on, but he knew that for Dante to act in this way there had to be a serious reason for it. The teen put his hands on Dante's shoulders, "Dante!" he called, in an effort to get the older man to respond. He didn't even get the red clad to blink, so he tried again, "Dante!" he shook the hunter slightly._

_The mentioned devil hunter snapped out of his trance like state; once again he heard the sound of the heavy downpour echo around him, he felt the raindrops hit the top of his white hair, soaking him though. He dropped to his knees and placed his hands on the ground, staring at the puddles of water in front of him. "Vergil…" he whispered._

_The younger half-devil crouched down next to Dante; he had heard the hunter say something sounding like a name, but he didn't recognize it. "Dante, who's 'Vergil'?" the teen asked._

_The red clad raised his head and looked at the teen, "Vergil? He is…" the hunter shook his head, "He _was,_ my… older twin brother…" his voice trailed off._

_Nero's eyes widened a little; he had just been using Yamato, which was originally Dante's brothers sword and he knew that Dante's brother was no longer around but that didn't explain why he was acting this way. It seemed to the teen that the older hunter's brother had passed away awhile before he even met him, so why was he so upset and in shock? Nero had no idea about what had brought this up, but he did know that the two of them should get out of the rain and get back to Devil May cry. The teen stood up and offered his hand to the red clad, "Dante, we should be getting back right now, or the others will worry."_

_The older hunter stood up by himself and kept his gaze fixed to the floor. He turned around and began walking in the direction of the shop, with his hands buried in his pockets. He tried to let his thoughts on Vergil get washed away by the rain, so they would never come back, but he found that simply trying to forget about what he thought that he had just seen was impossible since it was so fresh in his mind. And the way he thought he saw Vergil look at him back there; the glare that he gave him, with those ice cold eyes of his. Those eyes, that would haunt him forever._

_Nero glanced at Dante as they walked up the street to Devil May Cry; seeing the red clad act the way he did earlier had put the teen on edge. As much as hated to admit it, he knew that the red clad far surpassed him in all aspects of fighting and he knew how to keep his cool most of the time on the battle field, but for him to act in the way that he did slightly shocked the teen. Dante always made himself out to be a cocky, sarcastic kind of guy, but today he had seen a completely different side to the older half-demon. He wondered that if something to do with the red clad's brother could freak him out so bad, then what would Nero be like if he were faced with a similar situation? The teen shuddered at the thought._

_The pair walked up the steps to Devil May Cry and went through one of the two wooden doors. They walked into the shop which was surprisingly warm for once, although this could be because Dante and Nero had spent a long time out in the rain. Lady and Kyrie instantly looked over at the soaked duo from their place on one of the two sofas and smiled, Trish however, who was sitting on the desk near the back of the shop, could already tell that something was wrong. _

_"So, how was the job?" Lady asked, just as Nero closed the door. _

_"Um…" the teen cast a worried glance towards Dante, who was silently making his way up the stairs to the second floor of the shop to his room. Everyone watched him, slightly shocked at his uncharacteristic behaviour. The red clad opened the door to the second level of the shop, walked through it and made his way to his bedroom. _

_Trish looked at Nero; her worry for Dante was evident in her eyes. "What happened while you were out?"_

_"I don't know; we just went to the area where the demons had been reported to be and began taking them out." Nero started, "I finished of the last Hell Vanguard with Yamato then I looked at Dante; he had a shocked expression on his face and then he just dropped to his knees and said his brother's name…" the teen's voice trailed off._

_Trish slid off the desk and hurried up the stairs after Dante. Lady got up from her place on the sofa and slowly walked past Nero, her high heeled boots making the floor boards creak. She stopped when she was about a meter behind him. "So, Dante mentioned Vergil's name…" the Gunslinger sighed, "I haven't heard him speak about Vergil in around ten years… not since Temen-Ni-Gru."_

_Nero turned around and looked at Lady; she hung her head slightly, as if in shame or in sadness. Kyrie got up from the sofa and walked to the teen's side. She held his demonic hand in her own and looked at him, as if willing him to ask a question that he wanted to ask. "Lady, what… what was Vergil like?"_

_The dark haired woman turned to face him, "That's not my place to say."_

* * *

><p><em>Trish made her way along the landing to the room she shared with Dante. It was very rare to see the half-devil in a state slightly similar to the one he was in now; in fact, the last time she had seen Dante act this way was on his last birthday, but even then he still remained in moderately high spirits. The demoness came to the doorway; as she peered inside the dark room, she saw Dante sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. He had taken his red trench coat and black shirt off, so he only wore his black trousers. He was shaking slightly and breathing fast. Trish walked over to the half-devil, sat down next to him and put her arms around his neck, holding him close to her. She put her hand on his head and gently stroked his hair, calming him.<em>

_"Shhh, Dante. It's okay," Trish said in a quiet, soothing voice, "It's okay…"_

The red clad stopped walking and sighed; that was the day when he had started seeing Nero and Trish in a different way. _Trish… I'm sorry… I shouldn't have acted in the way that I did… I really am sorry. _He looked to his left and saw the dimly lit street that he had been heading for. The hunter began walking down the street, heading towards the one place where he knew he would get help to find the Hourglass. _Lady._

Slowly, he made his way up to her apartment, and over to her front door. He raised his hand to press the door bell, but froze and couldn't bring himself to. How could he? He hadn't seen Lady in months, what if she didn't want to help him? The red clad shook his head, Lady was his friend; he'd known her for over ten years, surely she would help him? Reluctantly, Dante rang the doorbell and waited.

After a couple of minutes there was no answer; the red clad couldn't even hear anyone moving around in there even with his demonic hearing. He rang the doorbell again and waited. This time he heard someone complain about being woken up so early. He heard heavy footsteps come to the door and the small click of the lock being unlocked. The door opened and he instantly caught sight of a very tired Lady, who was rubbing her eyes. She wore a plain white shirt and a pair of black shorts, presumably what she had worn to bed.

"Okay jackass; who are you and what the hell do you want at this… time in the morning…" Her voice trailed off as she looked at the man clad in red standing before her, "Dante!" She gasped.

"Lady-" the red clad was cut off by the Gunslinger, who was hugging him. She then stopped and dragged him inside.

"Dante, are you okay? Why are you here so early?" Lady inquired.

The hunter was about to give a reply when he heard another voice come from a room just off of the living room, "Lady, who's ringing the doorbell at this time in the morning?" The door to the room opened to reveal a sleepy looking Trish, who was also wearing a white shirt, but with no shorts so she only had her black, lace underwear on. The blonde demoness began walking over to the front door, only to stop when she caught sight of the red clad hunter standing in the doorway.

She stared at him with wide eyes, making sure that he was not some form of illusion that had been conjured by a demon of some sort to torment her and then ran up to him and hugged him. Dante was quick to return the embrace and rested his forehead on the top of her head. "Trish," the hunter started, "Lady, I'm sorry-"

"Don't be," Trish said calmingly.

Lady came up to them and joined the hug, "We know it must have been hard on you."

Dante relaxed a little; the welcoming atmosphere that he felt around him was completely different to the one of rejection that he had pictured earlier. He felt comfortable around Lady and Trish like he was wanted there by the two women. He felt loved, something which he hadn't felt for a good few months now.

Lady and Trish stopped hugging the half-demon. Instead they tugged him over to the sofa and forced him to sit down. The blonde demoness, grabbed Rebellion from him, set it on the floor next to the sofa and sat down next to him. Lady sat in the armchair that was positioned in a ninety degree angle with the sofa.

The red clad looked around the living room; it was quite plain in colour, having pale while walls, but there was plenty of furniture to make up for it, such as a coffee table, two sofas and an armchair. There was also a forty two inch flat screen TV that had been made by Sony.

"So Dante," Lady began, "What brings you here at this time in the morning?"

The hunter sighed and hung his head, "To tell you the truth, I only wanted to know if you knew where the highest point in the world is…" he said quietly.

"Oh, right" the Gunslinger said disappointedly. She would have thought that he had come to see her and Trish since both women hadn't seen him for ages, but she was wrong.

Dante realized his mistake and quickly tried to remedy it, "It's not that I'm not happy to see you guys, I am, really, but I need your help for this."

Lady nodded understandingly, as did Trish. "Then why do you want to know where the highest point is, Dante?" the blonde asked.

The red clad went silent for a moment; he wondered if the two would believe him if he told them that he was offered the chance to go back in time last night, but then decided that they knew he wouldn't lie about something as serious as that. "Have you two ever heard the legend of The Devil's Hourglass?"

"The Devil's Hourglass?" Trish questioned.

Dante turned to look at her, "You may know it as Chrona's Hourglass."

The Gunslinger pondered for a moment, "Hmm, I think I have, why?"

Unlike Lady, Trish had already caught on to what the hunter was trying to say and quite frankly, she couldn't believe it, "Dante, are you saying that-"

"Yes," the half devil confirmed.

The Gunslinger finally figured out what Dante was saying, "Wait a sec, don't tell me you were offered the chance? But how? The Devil's Hourglass is just a legend."

"So is The legend of Sparda, but that one is true isn't it?" Dante questioned her.

Lady sighed, "I guess. So, you were offered this chance then?"

Dante nodded.

Silence was bestowed upon the room.

The two women looked at Dante with wide eyes; they couldn't believe it. Dante had been given this chance and out of everyone else that could have got it, only he did and he would be the only one to ever get the chance in the existence of time.

Lady stood up, now recovered from being shocked at the chance that Dante had been given, "I'm going to call Nero and Kyrie; they should and come and see you while you're still here," she announced, while walking down the landing. She opened the door to her room and went inside.

The red clad hunter looked at Trish; there was sadness in his eyes, sadness that had dulled the bright, wild, liveliness that they had once had, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Taking this chance to save them; if I do, I'll have to leave you and the others behind."

Trish looked deep into his icy blue eyes with her own, she searched them carefully; they were now full of not only sadness, but remorse too. Sighing, she put her hands on his cheeks and forced him to look in to her eyes deeply as well, "Dante, do what your heart is telling you to do, because no matter who you choose, you will have to leave someone behind."

Just as Dante was about to say something, Lady walked in the room, fully clothed in her usual white shirt and shorts, with red gloves and light brown high heeled boots, "Nero and Kyrie will be here in about ten minutes." she sat back down in the armchair and watched as Trish got up to go and get changed.

They sat in silence as they waited for the younger couple to arrive. Trish came and sat back down after five minutes and the three continued to wait.

Dante began to get tense; not just because Nero and Kyrie were coming and he didn't know how they would react, but also because the silent atmosphere was very unnerving. He wondered how Nero would react to seeing him, since the kid knew that Dante was reminded of Vergil whenever he saw him; oh the kid knew that all too well, considering the amount of times that Dante had reacted to him being like Vergil. Yep, the kid definitely knew. _Kid…_ _it's been a while since I called him that. Hmph, I guess he's not much of a kid anymore, being twenty seven. _

The sound of the doorbell snapped Dante out of his thoughts. He looked over to the front door that was being answered by Lady and Trish and caught sight of Kyrie, who despite looking very sleepy, was smiling and seemed to be quite excited about something, which was probably something about seeing him again. The two were invited in and that was when Dante saw Nero; he hadn't changed much in terms of his facial appearance, he still had the same hairstyle and of course the same dark blue eyes, but he appeared to be a bit taller and broader than he had when Dante had first met him in Fortuna. He also appeared to be a lot more mature and reserved than he used to be.

The only real change was his clothes; he now wore a dark blue trench coat that didn't have a purple tinge when it was exposed to sunlight, a red waist coat that was similar to his red hoodie, but instead of there being a yellow stitch design on it, there was now a set of black ones that were set out in the same style. He still wore the same jeans and boots, but the holster for Blue Rose had appeared to have changed a little. Nero had Red Queen sheathed across his back.

Nero then noticed Dante and stopped in his tracks. The two of them stared at each other, unmoving and with blank, unreadable expressions on their faces. They both gave each other murderous glares, each trying to intimidate the other. After a minute of glaring, Nero walked over to Dante and gave him a brotherly-like hug, which the red clad, returned. The three women in the room let out a sigh of relief; for a moment, they were convinced that the two would just breakout into a fight. The two hunters stepped away from each other, "It's good to see you, Dante," Nero said, while smirking.

"You too, Nero," the red clad replied. Although the two would never admit it, Dante and Nero were close in a brother-like relationship and both held great respect for the other, even if they would rather pay Hell a visit before saying it. Despite this, they also liked to rival each other while fighting, which was, on the rare occasion, when Dante would give a cocky remark of some sort, but this didn't happen often at all.

Kyrie walked over to Dante while he was distracted and ninja hugged him, "What about me?"

The older hunter returned the hug, "Of course, I'm happy to see you too," he even smiled a little when he saw her warm smile, because no one could resist at least smirking, when Kyrie smiled or hugged them, her aura was just too happy and warm for that.

Lady smiled; she knew that Kyrie would be able to cheer Dante up and she was right, "I'll go and make some coffee," she walked off to the kitchen, with Trish following.

Kyrie finally let go of Dante, then her and the two hunters sat down, Dante on the same sofa as before and the younger couple on the one opposite. Out of habit, the older hunter put his feet on the coffee table.

"So Dante, how have you been?" Nero asked.

"Fine, how about you two?" in all honesty, he hadn't been fine, he'd been the opposite actually; it had gotten quite lonely in the office for the past six months without any of his friends paying him any visits, or without Trish living there with him, but he wouldn't ever say that, he had a feeling that they all knew anyway.

"We've been good," was Nero's short reply.

"We missed you though," Kyrie added.

Dante sighed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"Don't, we understand," Nero cut in. He knew Dante regretted thinking that he was exactly like Vergil and Nero had his own things to be sorry for, such as not checking up on the older half-demon for six months.

Lady and Trish came in with five cups of coffee. Although she was first slightly amused by Dante's habit of putting his feet on any table or desk he happened to be near, Lady soon shoved his feet of the table and handed him a cup of coffee, which he stared at for a few seconds, before proceeding to drink it.

Trish took a sip from her coffee, "Dante, what were you here for again?"

"I only want to know where the highest point in the world is and then I'll be one my way there," the red clad explained.

"Hold on a sec; how did you even get this chance? You haven't explained that yet," Lady asked. "And don't worry about explaining the situation, I told Nero and Kyrie over the phone."

The older hunter was silent for a moment, but soon spoke, "Last night, after I had fallen asleep, I had a really strange dream, all I could see around me was this wavy, red space and then I heard this voice, I don't know who they were, but they told me about the Hourglass and that I had been chosen to take the chance to go back in time."

"Do you think it could have been Chrona talking to you?" Nero questioned.

"That's possible. If it was her, then she also told me to go to the Crystal cave, where the Hourglass rested and that the cave is located near the highest point in the world," said Dante.

Lady took a sipped her coffee and then placed the cup on the table, "But where the highest point is, has been a debateable subject for years; some say that it's Mount Everest and others say that it's this Volcano in the middle of the ocean."

"Actually, it is Everest," said Kyrie, "That Volcano is bigger in terms of sea floor to the summit, but Everest is the most famous for its height, so I'd say the cave was near there."

Everyone looked at her, especially Dante, who looked at her with wide eyes, "Are you sure?" He asked desperately.

"Quite sure," she replied, smiling.

The red clad stood up suddenly, "Then I need to go," he was about to reach for Rebellion, when Trish suddenly picked up the sword and pulled Dante in to a passionate kiss. The others stood up and waited by the front door for the two.

Trish and Dante pulled out of the kiss and stared into each others eyes, knowing that this would most likely be that last time they would. "Look after yourself, okay." The demoness told the hunter as she handed him Rebellion. They walked over to the other three in the room. Dante gave Lady and Kyrie a hug, with both of them telling him to take care as well.

Then the red clad came to Nero, who gave him another brotherly hug and said his own version of 'take care', "Make sure you don't go dying on me."

Dante smirked at this and simply nodded. He then changed his expression and turned to everyone solemnly, "I suppose you've figured out, that once I do this and change the past, we may never meet in the changed future. I just want to say, that all of you were and still are a blessing to me. You're the family that I never had, so thank you for being that, you don't know how much it means me to have to leave you, but someone told me earlier, to listen to my heart and so I am. I'm sorry if I upset you by doing this… but I have to. Goodbye… my friends." The hunter turned around and made to open the front door.

"Dante."

The mentioned man turned back around to face Nero.

"You forgot this," the younger man said, holding out Yamato. "Eight years ago, you gave this sword to me, but right now, you need it more than I do, so that's why I'm giving it back."

Dante took Yamato from Nero, holding the sword in his left hand like some long lost treasure, "Thanks," he said simply, before turning around, "Kid," he finished.

For the first time since he had known Dante, Nero let the nickname go, just this once.

Dante flung open the front door and stepped outside, "I hope, that someday I'll see you all again and then I'll introduce you to my family." with that last comment, he strolled away, now fully prepared for his quest, for The Devil's Hourglass.

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><p><em>"Often, both humans and demons do not keep their friends and family as close as they should. Most of the time, they never stop and think, that maybe this time, will be their last. But you, son of Sparda, are different. Your friends are your family, yet you are still able to leave them behind for your real family, and this takes a great deal of strength and courage. I was right to have picked you, of all people."<em>

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><p>My god, I feel like I just climbed Everest with this chapter! Thanks for reading and I'm sorry for the delay, I had Exams. Hope you liked this chapter! Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Oh yeah, my english teacher could be reading this... right now 0_0<p> 


	4. A Ghost from the past

The Devil's Hourglass

Chapter 3: A Ghost from the past

As Dante walked down one of the main streets in Capulet city, he could not help but feel like another part of his soul had been torn from him, leaving him yet again with just a small amount of his true self. Half of his soul had died when Vergil passed away nine years ago, but he was somehow able to cope with that for a while, until Nero had had reminded him of his deceased twin. After that, everything seemed to go downhill for the red clad, which had lead to his Vergil-like personality. And now that he had ultimately picked his family over his friends, he had lost another part of himself; he had lost so much of what he once was, so much, that he was now nothing but a shadow of his former self. A mere shadow. All that remained of the hunter now, was his body and torn soul.

All of these years, Dante had carried on fighting, because he knew the demon that had caused all of his sorrow and all of his torment; Mundus. He had been responsible for everything that had happened in the hunter's life, for the demon emperor had caused his father to leave when he was four years old. _He _had been the one who sent demons to attack his house when he was eight, resulting in the death of his mother. And he had even managed to somehow corrupt Vergil in to becoming Nelo Angelo. How he had managed to do that, Dante would never know. His brother had been such a strong person, in both mind and body and for him to become a puppet of Mundus so easily was a shock to the red clad.

And then Dante had unwittingly cut the strings controlling the puppet that was his twin by killing him like any other demon, only to discover the true horror after Vergil's passing.

He still couldn't find words to describe what it had been like to pick up his older brother's amulet off of the stone floor after it had gracelessly dropped there with a chink… there were no words for such sorrow, only feelings that could not be described.

Part of the reason why Dante had survived all of these years, is because deep down, he had held a deep desire to extract revenge on the one who had ruined his life. He wanted to make Mundus pay for all that the demon emperor had done in his sinful life, but he wasn't the kind of man to do that and that hatred, that darkness in the bottom of his heart, had been eradicated. Because when he saved Trish, not only did he fill her dark soul with light, but she did the same to his. And that light of hers still remained, keeping the darkness away.

But for how long?

Dante looked up and gazed at the sunrise for the second time today. He was on his way to the airport right now to catch a plane to the Himalayas, so he could then make his way to Mount Everest. He had an old friend at the airport that would make sure he could get on a plane without being bothered by any of the security guards because of his weapons. His friend had allowed him to get through security a great number of times, so this time should not be a problem.

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><p>As Dante arrived at the airport, he could see the many happy faces of young children that were going on holiday with their parents. Beaming smiles could be seen even as all different ages of youngsters filled the long and tedious queues, their excitement obvious to anyone that would take but a glance at their faces. This was an ability that only children had. They were too young and innocent to know just how cruel the world can be, but maybe that was for the best. Perhaps a child's innocence was the best part of their persona; if they didn't have to see the horrors that an adult sees, then they could grow up and shape their personality through the normal ways of school like any other child. A chance that Dante never had; he had seen horror at the very young age of eight and inside he had grown up that night. His eyes had been truly opened to the world around him and instantly his perspective upon the world had changed.<p>

Yet he had not let this show. Just shrugged it off and hid it deep within his cocky personality, unable to face his own fear.

What the red clad had seen as a child had scarred him for life and as of now he wished none of what had happened to him on anyone, not even Mundus, who had caused his trauma.

A boy no older than the age he had been on that fateful day twenty nine years ago met his sorrow filled eyes, oblivious to his sadness. It was then that another boy met his gaze, sharing the same face as the other. Twins nonetheless. Dante paused for a second, reminded of his family as a child, before moving on once again. The two small twins gave him a smile that resonated beams of light.

In a moment of weakness and to make the two twins a small smile. So faint that it could barely be seen, but the slight curve of his lips was noticed by the young boys whose smiles grew even wider before they began to giggle in happiness and excitement of their holiday and at making the seemingly miserable man smile a little. They turned away and faced their mother, who turned to them and beamed fondly before looking at the passing red clad, knowing who he was.

Not odd, everyone in Capulet city knew who Dante was; the rumours spread like a bug; the mysterious man who lived within the odd job shop known as Devil May Cry. They said many things about him. Some good, some bad and some about his change in persona. But everyone knew one thing; if you ever needed help from escaping the frights of the Demon realm, then Dante the Devil Hunter would be the man to contact. He would get the job done free of charge most of the time, even if he always insisted otherwise.

The woman watched him pass. A deep sense of foreboding darkness crept into her for a moment and she wondered whether Dante would make it out alive from the apparent job he was doing this time, both in mind and body. But she knew that in the end, everything would turn out fine… it always did… for most of the citizens at least.

No one knew what normally happened to those directly involved in the fiasco. They knew that there were always casualties, but no one usually knew exactly who and more than often a brother was lost and the other was left behind, whether they were brothers in arms, or brothers bound by their sinful blood.

Sighing as he passed the woman and her two boys, the red clad made his way inside the airport and went to find his friend, who would be in his office.

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><p>Dante's old friend had managed to get him onto a private jet going to the Himalayas with absolutely no trouble with security whatsoever. The conversation between them had been quick and short;<p>

_Dante walked into the small, cluttered office, only to see a man in his fifty's looking through several sheets of paper. Various files on god knows what were stacked high on the desk on either side of the man, the right stack noticeably taller than the figure occupying it. The office was filled with file cabinets that took up all most all of the space next to the greying walls which were once a bright cream colour. A small, wooden desk of a deep mahogany colour decorated the far end of the room, though it was evident that it would not look so small and make the man look smaller even if it were so filled with piles of paper and files and stationary. _

_There was a stuffy smell in the air that had lingered in the very room since Dante had first set foot in this office all those years ago, but even after all this time the red clad still didn't know what it was exactly. _

_The man looked up after a minute of sorting and filling sheets of paper, occasionally shaking his head in both annoyance and disapproval. When he registered that someone had entered the room he jumped slightly, having been startled by such a quiet and outrageous intrusion. His appearance was rather that of the past, seemingly beyond even his time. He wore a grey suit that seemed to be in perfect condition even though it looked at least a decade old. His face was slightly worn and shallow wrinkles decorated his cheeks and forehead. Round, old-fashioned glasses sat on the end of his nose attached to a brown string which hung around his neck. On more than one occasion Dante had made fun of these glasses, but that had been in his youth… after Vie de Marli, like most other things of his past personality, that teasing had been no more. The old man looked at the hunter with wide, disbelieving eyes, "Dante, is that you?" He asked, squinting slightly._

_The red clad nodded as a reply. Oh how he was the spitting image of Vergil at the moment… like he had been for so many moments. But hopefully for not much longer._

_Instantly the man knew what he was here for, "Where to?" He enquired, curiosity lacing his tone. _

_"The Himalayas." No other word was spoken by Dante, for he had no comment to make. Not even a question of 'how are you was asked' no, the need to get a move on was too great for that. Plus the Devil Hunter was no longer the talkative type, much to the disappointment of many. _

_A few minutes and two phone calls later, the plane had been sorted and Dante was getting ready to leave the man's office and board the private jet. Looking up at the much taller man, the old friend of Dante's reminisced about the memories he had of the man in his youth. Oh how he had changed and the pity for this was evident in the eyes of the much older man. "Dante, what's this about? You're not usually in such a hurry." Perhaps this was to be a last mission? The thought came to the older man's mind very quickly, and like everyone who had seen Dante pass on the way here, he began to ponder whether the red clad would make it out alive this time. Not only in body, but in mind as well. _

_"I have something to do that must be done," came the solemn reply. "Thank you… I will never forget this."_

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><p><em>"Oh if only you knew, Dante, second son of Sparda and Eva."<em>

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><p>Currently it was a few minutes into the flight and at the moment Dante was staring at the sheathed Yamato that he had spread across his lap; the hunter had not let go of the O-Katana since Nero had given it to him. Feeling as if he could feel the essence of Vergil within the elegant blade as he silently asked his deceased twin to lend him strength for this one last mission. He traced his fingers over the guard that had many beautiful engravings etched onto it; dragons mainly, but phoenix's and demonic symbols decorated the guard also. Their father, Sparda truly had spent a long time on forging this sword in the deepest, darkest forges of Hell. Dante knew that his brother had cherished this sword and finally, the red clad thought that he was beginning to understand why; the blade was beautiful. Yes he loved Rebellion for it spoke everything about Dante in one glance, but Yamato was unique and said everything about Vergil in its own right, which made the red clad just love the sword more.<p>

For the first time, he believed that he completely and utterly understood why Vergil was so attached to honour and this blade. Well, the answer was right in front of him; Yamato was the symbol of the honour that Vergil had always upheld and the very source of his soul, since the two, master and weapon respectively, were one and the same. Just like Dante and Rebellion and the twins themselves. Yamato… Vergil's only link to their father and one of the two most powerful blades in existence was now back in the hands of the one able to change the fate of its master. And Dante would succeed, because death was not an option.

Moving his hand to the handle, Dante unsheathed the sword just a small bit. _The blade still looks the same… Nero took great care of this sword..._Yet with the joy of knowing that Yamato had been in the brilliant care of its young master, Nero_, _the blade still brought back more memories. In his mind, Dante could still see his first battle with Vergil; he saw the rain pouring, his blood spilling out onto the top of the tower and those icy blue eyes that belonged only to his brother.

_The twins panted hardly. They had been fighting for over an hour now and neither of them were willing to give up the fight. Both of them would fight the other until they fell, for eternity if need be. Their swords clashed strongly against one another, sending blazing hot sparks flying everywhere, only to be cooled by the pouring rain that was coming down in torrents. They locked blades and glared at each other with cold, murderous eyes. In that moment, they shared something; a need, a desire to defeat the other. They may have looked the same, but they were very different in many ways; how they dressed, the weapons that they wielded and the fighting style that they each used with pride. _

_Vergil somehow managed to make Dante lose his grip on Rebellion and forced the broadsword into the air with an upward thrust of Yamato. He paused for a second, before impaling his twin in the gut and glaring at him with a look no one could match. All Dante could do was watch helplessly, as his blood dripped on to the stone tower._

Dante sighed at the memory that he would rather forget… or not even have and closed his eyes while sheathing the legendary blade. He stayed like that for a few moments, enjoying the brief intersection of peace, before opening his blue eyes, only to find himself in a white space once he opened them.

He gazed around, his mind was puzzled while trying to discover where he was and why he was there. It was then that Dante heard a terribly familiar voice come from directly behind him. A voice that even sent shivers down the spine of the bravest man that had ever lived, "Hello there, Dante."

With wide eyes and a shocked expression, the hunter turned around in the blink of an eye and saw a ghostly familiar person, "Vergil…"

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><p>I have rewritten this chapter because let's face it, it needed to be rewritten. I hope you like it. I am sorry for the length of time it has been, but this story was making me sad, so I needed a very long break. I hope chapter four is here soon. I am currently writing it, but I have exams so I may be slow.<p>

Thanks for reading!


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